This Is Your Mind on Neptune – Today’s New Moon in Gemini

Today’s New Moon is super-Neptunian – are you feeling it? Sleepy, spacey, weepy, overwhelmed… Honestly, I’m feeling so freakin’ lazy that I just want to refer you to (or plagiarize from) the post I wrote about last year’s Gemini New Moon, because it’s basically the same deal (well, this New Moon is a little different, but last year’s post is still worth reading or re-reading).

Drawing us further into the dreamtime, Neptune is also stationing – standing still in the sky before turning Retrograde on June 9. We’ll continue feeling our way through the Neptunian haze through the 9th, and even throughout this entire lunar cycle, since the chart of the New Moon sets the tone for the entire “moonth” (29 days, to be precise). Neptune turns Retrograde just two days after Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, also turns Retro (until July 1).

Neptune dissolves personal boundaries so you can open to the level of reality that exists beyond the limits of the rational mind and the ego-bound small self – the ultimate reality of oneness and source consciousness. In a Neptune-deficient culture that enforces the illusion of the separate self and devalues the invisible and unquantifiable, most of us don’t have much skill or practice when it comes to navigating the mysterious Neptunian waters. Instead of merging with the divine and feeling “all one,” we project divinity onto another person, thing or future fantasy and, longing for the divine outside ourselves, we feel “all alone.”

As a watery, feminine force, Neptune works best when we focus on the process, the feeling itself, instead of fixating on an object or outcome. “The solution for longing for union is union with longing,” says James Hillman, astro-savvy Jungian genius (in a talk called “Venus in America”). He explains, if you unite with longing itself, rather than the object of longing – the thing you think is going to make it all better – then “you’re filled, not empty.” Useful guidance for this lunar cycle.

The current cosmic intertwining of Mercurial and Neptunian events is telling us that the Mercury function – perception, the logical/rational mind, connection and communication – wants to be Neptunized. As long as we’re stuck in the illusion of the separate self, your mind on Neptune is a lonely, isolating, frightening, anxiety-producing place to be. Plugging into a higher Neptunian level of awareness typically requires unplugging from the usual media-driven deluge of external input – our minds are more open and sensitive now, more porous, so we can get easily distracted, overwhelmed and confused with over-stimulation. This is also a good time to be more discerning about which images and information we’re choosing to imprint into our spongy little brains.

Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is especially potent at this New Moon, and precisely sextiles Venus, suggesting that beauty, artistry, love and eroticism are also keys to this lunar cycle. (A sextile is a 60-degree angle of harmonious excitation.) If you’re not attending to the aesthetic in life, says James Hillman (again from the Venus talk), you become anesthetic, anesthetized, numb.

Slowing down to notice, appreciate and cultivate beauty, taking the time to create art and to live our lives as works of art, helps us connect with that Neptunian feeling of communion with the divine (Neptune is considered the “higher octave” of Venus). We can LIVE beauty, connect with the FEELING of beauty, rather than longing for beauty as something outside ourselves to attain or possess.

When it comes to setting your intentions for this lunar cycle (starting today at 11:41 am Pacific), the Neptunian nature of this New Moon means listening deeply to the needs of your soul, which might not “make sense” to your conscious, analytical, rational mind (Gemini). This New Moon wants you to go beyond linear thinking and use your imagination, your dreams to guide you. What’s your guiding vision – for yourself, for the collective? What’s the most beautiful future you can imagine?

For deeper insight into what this New Moon means for YOU, find the house in your chart that contains 7 degrees Gemini. The areas of life signified by that house are where you’re being called to: deepen your sense of belonging and connection (first within yourself); listen to your feelings, dreams and intuitive guidance; improve communication skills; learn something new, or return to a subject you used to love; connect with and communicate your vision.

Dear Emily,
Your article is wonderful & perfect for my present state of Neptuniun cloud. I do need to correct (old Neptune, again,) your reference to James Hillman, when you were actually directing us to William Hellman. It happens!!!

hi Maryanne – Sorry for the confusion – “Venus in America” is a lecture by both James Hillman and his son, Laurence Hillman (who is an astrologer). The talk is available on Laurence’s site, which is where I linked to from the article. (But the quote is by James.)

Thank you Emily for writing this awesome post! So helpful! Each new moon and full moon I am looking forward reading your post. You are my favorite astrology source of guidance and inspiration! So happy you did write this one, beside all those neptunian energies …

Reblogged this on Forever Unlimited and commented:
I have a lot of Neptune in my chart..I have been feeling it for days, like a rollercoaster…although today I feel more energized, despite still not being able to sleep much. ~PB